Mortem

It was like a downpour without rain, a downpour of grief at the cremation centre. A huge shame really, blazing hot summer sun scorching men and women alike as if they were ones being burnt in a live pyre. The atmosphere was filled with mix emotions of remorse, sorrow, love and loss.

All that mixed with the heat could make any of the senile geezers from the first pyre to hallucinate a ressurection from the now, burning lump.

At present, they were content in the shade offered by the stands, a row or two of benches under a roof, a provision made for spectators to watch the last will of their kin leave the face of this Earth.
How complacently they discussed the demise of their comrade, an elderly person, and spoke of their neighbour, death, with no drop of uncertainty. As if it was the one and only truth in the world. The younger generation was more busy in exchanging pleasantries and rejoicing in what seemed more like a rather morbid family reunion.

Straight across from that party was where a mountain of grief had broken. Tears enough to create a salty water lake had been shed, but alas, nothing could change the outcome. A family of three had apparently died in a horrible car accident. The emotions in this camp ran here and there, like a flame dancing in the wind, so did their sadness, here and there from person to person.

To the left of that gloomy atmosphere was another family, praying in utmost solace. If the previous party was a flame dancing in the wind, this one was like twenty candles upright in a peaceful, unified protest. A young girl in her twenties had finally succumbed to a terminal illness. A young man looked on from the stands, his eyes as dryed up as a once ocean now turned to a desert that stretched to endless bounds. He seemed lost for all words, although, he was yet to lose his sanity. He peeped to his left and saw,

The last party exuded a pain no less than the others. From the corner of his eye, the man observed a woman sobbing uncontrollably in the corresponding stand. All he could do was sigh, let out a small, cold breath. His body himself had turned stone cold despite the heat. What could he possibly do? With what words could he comfort her, when he was unable to feel himself? Still, something or someone compelled him to stand up, take a step and walk over to the woman who seemed to be slightly older than him as he approached closer.

The man silently sat down next to her. He listened to the muffled voice, gulping throat and nose sniffing to catch breath. It was all so fresh, so familiar. A tear or two rolled down his cheek. He could feel his skin getting rough, wear and tear. He frantically looked here and there, for someone to help, for someone to stop it all, but the others were busy with the ceremony.

"Please... please, come back. You promised me a life.....and now you can't just leave.....I'll leave you all alone if that's what you want.... But come back, live and be happy.......if it is to be without me...."

The woman sniffed, and sobbed some more. Feeling like a never ending nightmare, the man's throat tightened. Still he mustered up the courage to speak, speak for herself, or perhaps in a desperate attempt to convince himself of what we wanted to hear.

"Hey... Ma'm, please calm down. It's ok. The least you can do right now is to take care of your own health. I can understand your grief but you've been grieving non stop, you must get a hold of yourself."

The man took off his handbag and drew a water bottle from inside it. He offered it to the lady.

The woman paused and glanced at the man, and at once he saw her eyes, schorching red, perhaps even redder than they would see in the sunset in few hours.

"W-who are you? What do you know of my p-pain? What do you understand it is like to l-lose someone so close? What do you know how it's like when things are not in your control, a situation not in your hand?"